Using the Postal Service and Slow Postal Delivery

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We have had a post office box since first arriving here more than a decade ago. I was fortunate to be able to get a box because they are in short supply. I just feel better about my mail (which is not very much, basically bank statements and the electric bill) rather than depending on the general delivery approach because we can get our mail out of the box even when the post office is closed.

I have known that service is slow, but not a problem. We also find that the staff at the Boquete office is very friendly and helpful. Kudos to them. We periodically take them some cookies or dulces as a thank you gesture.

Now to my gripe. Our electric utility bill comes to us via both email and the postal service. It is very convenient to get the bill via email for those times when we are traveling because that means I can pay the bill remotely via direct bank transfer to Union Fenosa. (I still call it Union Fenosa even though the name now is officially Gas Natural Fenosa). And sometimes my paper bill doesn't come for several weeks, but it is much more readable than the PDF email version that is sent out.

The November paper bill never arrived and so I just wrote it off as lost in the mail. But then as we were going through the mail that we just picked up (having been in travel mode), I looked at the back of the bill. Interesting date stamp information. The paper bill was posted in Panama City on 21 November 2016. That paper bill was delivered to the Boquete post office on 23 December 2016. That is more than a month to get the bill some 500 KM from PC to Boquete. Not impressive delivery service.

Anyone else having similar experiences? Are there any ways to improve the situation?

Here is the back of my November bill:

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I have a p.o. box there, but I don't get my electric bill there. A guy rides to my house on a motor cycle and sticks the bill in my gate. More reliable than the p.o. I guess. I also get a bill by email.

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I find that the PDF version of the bill they send via email is very readable.

Maybe this is the place to plug the outgoing mail service to the U.S. and Canada offered at the BCP market. Get your letter to us on Tuesdays between 9 and 11:30 AM and we'll find someone to hand carry it to a mail box in the U.S. We also have U.S. stamps for sale for $1 each.